Friday, Sept. 16, 2011

Only one reading problem, Location. Normal reading an 8, ErgoText a 9. Found target words faster. Very interesting comments:

"Comments:  I tend to tire and skip words when I read quickly and have to move from right to next line on left.  I notice this a lot when I read novels, even on my kindle because I read so quickly and my comprehension is high that I don't miss meaning.  It was significantly easier to track with my eyes using the curved text.  The curved first letter of the sentence is easy to spot I can even quickly note the number of lines,(I'm very visual even in memory) I am unable to do that as quickly on the traditional block writing. Interesting implications for teaching reading fluency to students and for visual learners."

Linda, Bueno, AZ

Monday, Sept. 12, 2011:

Reading problems of Mirror, Location, Quivering, Context, Focus, River, and Phonetic. Rated normal reading a 5, ErgoText a 7. Found more errors with ErgoText. Found target words faster. Would like to see publishers use it.

"ErgoText makes reading go more smoothly and increases my comprehension. Also, the spelling mistakes were much more noticeable."

Sarah, Phoenix AZ

Tuesday, Aug 30, 2011:

Reading problems of Jumble, Location, Context, Radial, Focus, River, Distortion, and Phonetic. Normal reading rated at 7, ErgoText at 9 (perfect). Found no errors in regular text, found both errors in ErgoText. Found target words faster in ErgoText.

"At first it looked a bit different and felt a little odd, but I read it much more fluently."

Sandi, Chandler AZ

Saturday, Aug 27, 2011:

Reading problems of Mirror, Location, Focus, Distortion, Dissociation, and Phonetic. Rated normal reading as a 6, ErgoText as 9. Found target word faster with ErgoText.

"ErgoText was a lot easier to read, but I am not sure how I feel about it just yet."

Abby, Phoenix AZ

Sunday, Aug 14, 2011:

Reading problems of Context and Focus. Found Target Word faster.

"Food for thought."

Margo, Washington, D.C.

Saturday, Aug 13, 2011:

No reading difficulties - a normal reader.

"It seemed as though i was reading the ErgoText a bit faster but I'm not sure I liked it... I would like to read more with comprehension questions after."

Carrie, Arlington, VA

Note from ErgoDox: We are now sending everyone who participates an additional gift, a full chapter of ErgoText from the World's 1st book writtin in ErgoText. Hopefully, some of the regular readers who don't quite seem to get much out of the small sample will tell us if it improves for them with a better chance to experience it. The publisher insists he's never had anyone reading the book not comment they liked it better once they got a chance to give it a fair test.

Monday, Aug. 8, 2011:

Location, Context, Focus issues. Found no difference in reading ease or speed, found the same number of errors.

"I am not sure I have problems myself though my 14 year-old does. She has has so much a problem that I pulled her from Public Schools because she tests well enough they can't put her in Special Ed, but does qualify for accommodations. They just never provided the accommodations. Her reading affects Science and Social Studies and some Math, and of course, majorly impacts English. We use color marks on paper and the helps some."

An additional comment was sent us separately: "I think I could probably read better the way you are doing the ErgoText, but I'm wondering if you have to use ALL CAPS? My daughter and I both think it's much harder to read things in all caps. It seems like someone is screaming at you."

Mary, Concord, N.C.

Note from ErgoDox:  We answered this to Mary: "This is your thank you, Mary, for participating. Instead of the usual form letter (also a part of this), I thought I'd offer some personal comments.  

You are a bit unusual compared to the others thus far responding in that you indicate there may be some reading issues, but you seem even-steven on results with ErgoText.  We find that often in people who have no reading issue, but largely, our findings indicate that is because their sample was too small. For instance, some people with normal reading skills (there is one in the survey, and their comments are on our comment page) who tell us they don't like or have difficulty trying to read ErgoText based on a small sample... will change their minds once they have read a larger sample.  

Because there is a chance ErgoText will be useful to you and your child, I'd like to offer you a 'second chance' based on a larger sample. That way you will at least know: if it improves, then it is a reading issue you are dealing with and you may be able to work on that, and if not, then you may want to explore other alternatives. I'm not qualified to advise on that, but in my child's case, it turned out to be a psychological matter easily address with counseling. 

If you would like such a sample, be advised it would be a chapter from In Mindless Times, which is a sci-fi story on time travel. It would be a .pdf for on-screen reading. Let me know if you would like me to send that to you. 

No, Mary. All Caps does happen to be preferred by most Dyslexics, depending on the variety (there are at least a dozen varieties). But everyone else hates them. So we would prefer not to use them for works intended to be read by both. An ideal World would see works published in four flavors of ErgoText; regular, regular large print, caps, caps large print. But that will be quite some time in the future, should publishers become enlightened as to the benefits and sensitive to the needs of those not blessed with no such issues.

Follows is the form letter and your free gift, attached... and since it is based on the same technology, so to speak, it, too, may prove useful in resolving your difficulties, at least with respect to quality of writing and ease of reading what is written."  

Friday, July 29, 2011:

Issues with Location, Context, and Focus. Normal reading rated at 3, ErgoText at 6. Found target words faster.

"Easy to read... think it's cool!"

         TJ, Dallas, TX

Thursday, July 28, 2011:

No reading difficulties. Rated regular reading 9, ErgoText 6. Did find all the errors in ErgoText but NON in the regular text. Did not find target words more quickly.

"It took much longer to both read and comprehend with the ErgoText."

          Ariel, Albuquerque, NM

note from ErgoDox: We find that most regular readers prefer ErgoText; to date out of all exposure to include a year's worth of developmental testing well before this informal survey, we have had perhaps a total of a mere six negative comments such as this. However, in each case, the comments were made after reading only a simple paragraph or two, as in the comparison study. In EVERY such case where we have been able to urge the reader to give it a better chance by reading a couple of pages, they CHANGED THEIR MIND. Note that while he did not seem to like the experience compared to normal text, he still found all the errors in ErgoText and no errors in the regular text. We deduce from this that his actual comprehension of what he read should be greater, because he made fewer reading errors, though he was going slowly, which may account for that fact. Thus at the least, ErgoText forced him to get more from the reading. We would hope that once getting used to it, his reading speed would improve as it does for virtually everyone else... and still enjoy the same comprehension benefits.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011:

Issues include Assembly, Jumble, Location, Context, Focus, and Phonetic. Rated normal reading at 3 and ErgoText at 7. Found all errors in ErgoText, no errors in regular text. Found target word in about the same time. 

"My spelling is very poor, so finding spelling mistakes is always difficult. I did find spelling mistakes more easily with ErgoText. However, I found the key words at about the same rate of time."

          Martin, Metairie, LA

Tuesday, July 26, 2011:

Issues include Mirror, Context, and Focus. Rates normal reading at 6, ErgoText at 9. Did not find more errors but did find target words faster.

"I found ErgoText easier to read and easier to comprehend."

          Deborah, Albuquerque, NM

Note from ErgoDox: We are quite gratified, because here is a person who, by their rating of regular reading at 6, and given the significant number of reading issues, has obviously done very well at overcoming those issues. Yet with ErgoText, they rate it a perfectly easy read, which for all practical purposes, means that ErgoText completely eliminated their Dyslexia! We hope that is indeed the case.

Monday, July 25, 2011:

EVERY problem option, unfortunately, along with multiple health problems. Like many dyslexics, prefers all CAPS, and non white backgrounds

"IT WAS NOT TOO HARD FOR READING, HOWEVER I REALLY LIKED THE EXAMPLES SHOWN WHICH I PREFERRED. THE RAINBOW SHAPE WAS BEST. I DID NOT FIND ERRORS. I FIND THE ERGOTEXT USEFUL WITH A LOT OF EXAMPLES THAT WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR ME TO DECIDE HOW I WOULD LIKE TO APPROACH MY ENGLISH CLASS IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE. IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE AND I THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY, AND FOR LETTING ME KNOW THERE ARE OTHER RESOURCES OUT THERE FOR ME TO GET SOME HELP WITH MY LEARNING DISABILITIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND SUPPORT :)" 

          Mr. C, Lynnwood, WA

Note from ErgoDox: This is a second go around for this reader. Looks like he got more out of it the second time. This illustrates our belief that especially in the beginning, the more you use ErgoText, the more you are able to do better with it.

Focus problem. Normal difficulty rated 4, ErgoText rated 8. Found fewer errors. Found target words faster.

"It was much better to read the new way, thank you!"

          Juliana, El Cajon

Reading problems include Mirror, Location, Context, and Focus.  Normal reading difficulty rated at 5, ErgoText rated at 8. Found one more error in ErgoText, Found Target Words faster in ErgoText.

"I have had to deal with Dyslexia ever since I began reading. The ErgoText was remarkably mush easier to read and comprehend. I wish more text was printed in this manner, especially my physics textbooks... LOL."

          Megan, San Diego

Sunday, July 24, 2011:  

"I suffer cognitive delays and have 4-6 year old reading skill at age 20. The ErgoText was a lot easier to read."

           Jacob, Portland

Quite Dyslexic, it seems (Mirror, Assembly, Jumble, Location, Context, Dissociation, Phonetic), went from a 3 on the scale for normal reading, to 7 for ErgoText; can read ErgoText much faster. 

"I did find it easier for me to read. I did not find any errors in either one of the texts. Now if they were misspelled words I am one of the worst spellers, but it was not all cramped together like normal text is to me."

          Kristy, Ft. Worth

Friday, July 22, 2011:  This post has been corrected, originally incorrectly attributed to another party

Reading Problem Quiver: 

"I bought a copy of In Mindless Times at a show from the Author who said it was 'The World's 1st Ergonomic Book.'  Uses your ErgoText. It's the first time in my life I can read like anyone else!. At least 5 times faster reading. Yes, easier to spot errors, and it is faster to find the target word. Why is that? Left-Right brain thing?"  

           Jimmy, Santa Clara

Reading problems: Mirror, Assembly, Jumble, Location, Quivering, Context, Radial, Focus, River, Distortion, Dissociation, Phonetic.

"I have a learning disability problem and I do have other health problems that were not helping me to graduate from school with my classmates. It was tough. I had my parents fight constantly because I was failing them so bad and I did not know what to do. I heard Orlando Bloom has a difficult time reading and uses the same method as me by using color papers. I find it very difficult to read with other people. I do like the fact that there are other people like me but they do not acknowledge that other people are having a difficult time getting jobs because they are not worth getting a stable job."

           C., Lynnwood Washington

Monday, July 18, 2011:

Reading Problem Mirror and Jumble: 

"But it's funny that the curved text is much easier."

           Dale, Portland, OR

Sunday, July 17, 2011:  

Reading problem not specified, if any: 

"The arc shaped text was much faster to read. I'd love to learn the results (of the test) and what type of program/system you may be offering."

           Gail, unspecified

Reading problems with Location, Focus, and Assembly

"Reading speed was faster and comprehension was better. I didn't get hung up on certain words. I would like to look into this more."

Martin, New Orleans

"My reading difficulty (Rivers and Focus) is very mild compared to many people, but I never enjoy reading large material as an adult, especially handwriting. ErgoScript writing paper seems to make the handwriting easier to read, just like ErgoText.  

When I first saw ErgoText I knew I wanted my publishing company to be the first to use it. Glad I did. In addition to making it easier to read (ergonomic in several ways, actually), it saved 20% in paper and production, shipping costs. That translates to 1/2 ton of paper saved on a small book run. You can get the World's 1st ergonomic, heuristic book using ErgoText from proparanoidbooks.com. Sorry for the ad."

          Author and Publisher H. Michael Sweeney, Clackamas OR

Reading_problem:  Dissociated, Location, and Context.

"I pretty much don't read anything as it is a struggle. But my buddy sat me in front of his computer and your curvy text. For the first time I realize I've never actually seen words before. I still had to struggle a bit, but only because I'm not used to seeing it the right way."

          Phillip P., Detroit